


"You Might Like This."

by impulse_baker



Series: 100 Ways to Say 'I Love You' [21]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Boys In Love, Dean is a Sweetheart, Except it is totally a date, Fluff, Gabriel Being Gabriel, Idiots in Love, M/M, Not a Date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-01 11:35:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13997448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impulse_baker/pseuds/impulse_baker
Summary: Castiel wants to ask Dean out on a date, except not as a date, except it really is a date and he wants it to be a date, but it can't be a date, even though it is essentially a date, despite not being called a date.Cas and Dean go on a date.





	"You Might Like This."

Castiel considered himself to be in a good place at the moment. He had a healthy relationship with Jack and he was able to keep the promise he made to Kelly. The boy learned so quickly and had such an affinity for good things and being kind and compassionate. He and Gabriel struck up an immediate kinship, only strengthened over their mutual enthusiasm for sweets. He worried at first that his brother would be hesitant over Jack’s parentage, but as always, his brother surprised him and exclaimed there was no resemblance, although he used more references to genitals than Castiel needed to understand.

Jack was also taken under the tutelage of both Sam and Dean in many things and while the boy had a wonderful dynamic with both Winchesters, Castiel was especially fond of the way Dean taught him things. The elder hunter was incredibly resourceful and intelligent and inventive, and Jack took in every lesson eagerly.

The angel could admit to himself that seeing Dean’s paternal guidance towards Jack made him fall in love even more. There was no limit to how much he could love him, evidently. Every time he smiled inwardly at a smudge of cheese on the corner of Dean’s mouth, he would think, _I love him as much as anyone can love anything_. But then he would find himself in the back seat of the Impala, engulfed by his off key singing and think, _I love him even more_.

Castiel was passed being fearful of this love.

That didn’t mean he understood it. He just accepted it. It was an ever-growing part of him, as essential to who he was as anything.

He doubted the nature of Dean’s feelings towards him. He could recognize that their relationship had many elements that separated them from being a brother, or family in that sense. He used to be weighed down by his uncertainty. The ambiguity of Dean’s feelings for him used to loom over him as a threat to taint their time together.

That has long since ceased to be the case. He loves Dean and he takes their quiet, private moments for what they are. He sees Dean’s affection for him in the way he makes sure there is a warm robe hung on a hook waiting for him when he comes out of the shower. He sees it in the way his touches linger and his eyes dwell on him longer than necessary.

That is one of the things he has learned about humanity from his time with the brothers. He has learned appropriate social etiquette, such as what duration of time is acceptable to look at someone before it becomes “creepy”.

Another thing he has learned is how to show affection in a grand way, disguised as something that appears to be an afterthought. Human nuance was exhausting, but he was happy to abide by it for the sake of Dean’s comfort.

It was in one such effort that he came across a bar that held trivia nights and karaoke every alternating Thursday. He found the trivia schedule and resolved to ask Dean to accompany him on the night when the general category was _‘Rock n Roll’._ It wasn’t the kind of thing Castiel particularly enjoyed himself, but it would be a chance for he and Dean to spend time together doing something Dean found joy in.

 

 

As Thursday neared, Castiel began to doubt whether his idea for a night out with Dean was a good idea or not. They watched a movie the night prior about a man who sang at weddings. There was a scene where the main character was drinking at a bar and was reflecting on the nature of romantic love and the whole thing put the angel at unease, especially because of the unbidden show of emotion is was drawing from his movie watching companion. The movie did not strike Castiel as very emotionally compelling compared to the other films they watched, and so it was not uncommon for Dean to huff or sniffle or shift closer towards him during a moving scene. But for whatever reason, the mullet haired actor’s dialogues seemed to strike some cord with Dean, and Castiel did not know what to make of it.

Emotions were so confusing.

Perhaps bars were a more emotional setting than he realized? The only experience he had was facilitated by the Winchester brothers.

He thought to maybe ask Sam about it, but he did not wish to potentially make Dean uncomfortable by unintentionally revealing anything.

He had no choice. Sam’s involvement was not an option, but now Castiel had someone else with equal, if not more, experience with these things. Gabriel had spent more time than any of the indulging in these human practices, and he could be trusted not to bring anything up with Dean.

 

“So you’re asking Dean on a date? I guess we can’t all have good taste in Winchesters.”

Castiel scowled at his brother. Perhaps his logic had been flawed when he decided to seek out Gabriel’s counsel.

“It is not a date. I just want him to accompany me out for a leisurely night doing something I thought he would find joy in. It is all very black and white, Gabriel.”

“What’s black and white and red all over?”

“I’m not in the mood for your jokes. I came to you because I am desperate for help to understand whether this is a good idea or not. I just want to have a good night doing something different than usual.”

“I’ve got plenty of ideas for a good night that’s different than usual.”

“If you aren’t going to help me, I’m going to tell Sam what you and Eileen were talking about last Wednesday after dinner.”

The archangel somehow paled and flushed a furious red all at once and Castiel could see when he decided to concede.

“Blackmail, huh? I couldn’t be prouder, Cassie. You’re really growing into your wings. Old Dean’s really rubbing off on you, looks like. Maybe after Thursday I won’t have to mean that strictly metaphorically.” He waggled his eyebrows with a smirk.

The seraph wasn’t amused. When he failed to crack a smile out of him, Gabriel sighed and straightened up and squared his shoulders, as if to try and level himself with his taller younger sibling.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to wear?”

Castiel shrugged his shoulders and patted his coat to indicate he had no plans of straying from his usual attire. He had taken to wearing some of Dean’s well-loved clothing on laundry days.

“I usually just wear a suit. The only clothes we have purchased for me to wear are for cases.”

“You’re so lucky you have me.” Gabriel grinned and scratched his chin and snapped his fingers with a flourish.

Castiel felt a slight, momentary caress of what he recognized to be Gabriel’s Grace, mixed with what could only be his access to pagan magic. He looked down at himself and tilted his head. He was now clad in a black polyester zip up jacket with a pale blue button-down shirt underneath, and skinny distressed blue jeans. The top two buttons of his shirt were left open. He frowned and started to button them up but Gabriel swatted his hands away.

“Come on, Cas, don’t mess with the look! This is perfect! Maybe let your scruff grow out over the next few days. Give Dean a look at your bad boy side.”

“I don’t think Dean would like it if I went _bad_.” He emphasized with air quotes.

“I’m not saying go full on douche master on him, I’m just saying, look the look, you know?”

“While I appreciate this, I would very much like to have my normal clothes back.” He said after a beat of silence.

Gabriel sighed and snapped his fingers again and grumbled about calling Eileen because no one here appreciated him.

Castiel watched him go. None of his questions had even been answered.

 

 

Thursday morning, at precisely 6:20a.m., Castiel left his room and went to start a pot of coffee in the kitchen. He knew Dean would be shuffling in soon and he thought a good way to ease into asking him to go to the bar with him was with hot coffee and crispy bacon. He punched in the settings into the extravagant espresso machine Sam had indulged in buying, but which Dean refused to use despite being proven to like it better, because _we don’t need that froufrou crap, Sammy_. If Dean wouldn’t use it himself, Castiel would do it for him so he couldn’t argue.

Frying bacon was something Castiel had yet to perfect. Dean insisted he was getting there, and the seraph took confidence in remembering that.

“Morning, sunshine.”

“Good morning…moonbeam.”

Dean stopped midstep and Castiel’s function ceased with him. _Stupidstupidstupid why did I think that was a good idea?_

But then the hunter’s flawless lips quirked up enough for him to see perfect rows of white teeth, and his eyes looked like an enchanted jade forest that Castiel wanted to get lost in.

“You’re in a good mood, huh?”

“Yes. I had a restful evening.” He lied. His night was plagued with doubt over his plan.

He set a cup of coffee in front of Dean that he added two pumps of hazelnut creamer to and the slightest bit of white chocolate cream. The hunter hummed appreciatively as he breathed in the rich fragrance. His eyes crinkled knowingly over the top of the mug as he took a sip, but he said nothing. They were good at that, acknowledging each other’s kind gestures without actually saying anything.

He was a bit worried about how the bacon turned up, but the way Dean scarfed his plate down told Castiel he had done well enough. It was now or never.

“Dean. I was wondering if you would humor me and attend a trivia night with me tonight.”

Without missing a beat, Dean just smiled and nodded his head with his mouth full.

That was much easier than Castiel anticipated. He had a list of reasons that Dean would have fun, all prepared and ready to go. All of that anxiety for nothing.

“Sounds fun, Cas. What time do you want to leave?”

“The website said that they open at eight, so perhaps we should arrive fashionably late at half passed?”

Dean’s shoulders shook slightly with his soft laughter. “Sounds good, man. Want to help me tune up Baby after breakfast?”

 

 

They parted ways to get ready and Castiel was suddenly regretful that he hadn’t asked Gabriel to keep those clothes.

As if by miracle, when he opened the door to his room, the very same outfit was laid out on his bed. He approached it with love in his heart for his brother, but the warmth quickly dissipated and turned to annoyance when he saw the strip of condoms and packets of lube. He could imagine the mischievous look on his brother’s face. But he would rather be embarrassed than not have his brother. The appraising look on Dean’s face when he saw him dressed up was enough to forgive Gabriel for, anyway.

 

 

It turned out that the bar called _Switch Hitter_ was exactly the kind of bar he imagined a young Dean enjoying immensely, but precisely the kind of place that would have made the seraph nervously sweat if it weren’t for the fact that he _didn’t_ sweat. Under any circumstances.

All of the servers were dressed in shades of blue, purple, and pink. The male serves wore cut off shorts of varying lengths, ranging from just above the knee to just short of being boxer briefs, paired with flowy shirts that some had also cropped short. The women were dressed similarly, except he noticed that some of them had apparently elected not to cut their pants up and leave the full length skinny jeans that were cuffed at the bottom. Everyone was very cordial and warm, except that at times the intensity of their pleasantries reached levels that Castiel was uncomfortable with. Dean however seemed to be having the time of his life, and so he said nothing, until his friend nudged him and expressed his concern.

“You ok?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m glad you are enjoying yourself.”

“You’re not having fun, are you?”

“No, I am.” He hurriedly lied.

“We can leave, if you want. I already won two rounds of trivia, Cas. Mission accomplished.”

“No, no we can stay. We _should_ stay.” He was determined to stay here where Dean looked so carefree and excited.

“Cas, I’ve seen you talk to bees, so I know what it looks like when you’re having a good time. That’s not what’s going on here.” He waved his hand in front of Cas’ face. “Why did you want to come here, anyway? I know this isn’t really the kind of thing you like to do.”

“I just thought…I hoped…You might like this.” He sighed in defeat. His plan to have the perfect night out with Dean was ruined because he was too uptight. He resented himself for it and cursed his inability to let Dean have a good night.

Dean stood up and put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go. We’ve got some Brooklyn 99 episodes and toffee ice cream waiting for us at home.”

“But – ”

“Cas. I’m having the most fun when you’re having a good time, too. You think I look that happy shoveling dirt with Sam? No. It’s because you like planting shit and I like doing it with you. So let’s go.”

 

Sitting on a couch with Dean pressed close against him was indeed, a lot more fun than the bar. Even when they parted ways at the end of the night to go to their respective rooms, Cas considered it a good night. As much as he wished they were going to the same bed, he was happy with what he had.

He’d take Brooklyn 99 and ice cream over nothing.

**Author's Note:**

> Man...this one got away from me.  
> Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Previous work: "You Can Borrow Mine."  
> Next work: "It's Not Heavy. I'm Stronger Than I Look."


End file.
